Online Encyclopedia
Timeline of Linux development
This timeline shows the development of the Linux kernel.
Timeline | ||
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Apr 1991 | Linus Torvalds, then 21, starts working on some simple ideas for an operating-system. Starting with a task-switcher in 386-assembly and a terminal-driver. | |
25 Aug 1991 |
Linus posts to comp.os.minix: [1] "I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things). I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work. This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months [...] Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(. [...] It's mostly in C, but most people wouldn't call what I write C. It uses every conceivable feature of the 386 I could find, as it was also a project to teach me about the 386. As already mentioned, it uses a MMU, for both paging (not to disk yet) and segmentation. It's the segmentation that makes it REALLY 386 dependent (every task has a 64Mb segment for code & data - max 64 tasks in 4Gb. Anybody who needs more than 64Mb/task - tough cookies). [...] Some of my "C"-files (specifically mm.c) are almost as much assembler as C. [...] Unlike minix, I also happen to LIKE interrupts, so interrupts are handled without trying to hide the reason behind them" |
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Sep 1991 | Linux version 0.01 is released. | 10,239 lines of code. |
Oct 1991 | Linux version 0.02 is released. [2] | |
Dec 1991 | Linux 0.11 is released. This version is the first that is self-hosted. (that is: you can compile Linux 0.11 under Linux 0.11) | |
19 Jan 1992 | First post to alt.os.linux newsgroup. | |
31 Mar 1992 | The newsgroup comp.os.linux is created. [4] | |
Apr 1992 | Linux version 0.96 is the first to be capable of running the X Window System. | |
14 Mar 1994 | Linux 1.0.0 is released. | 176,250 lines of code. |
Mar 1995 | Linux 1.2.0 is released | 310,950 lines of code. |
9 May 1996 | Tux the penguin, is suggested as mascot for Linux | |
9 Jun 1996 | Linux 2.0.0 is released. | 777,956 lines of code. |
25 Jan 1999 | Linux 2.2.0 is released, very buggy at first. | 1,800,847 lines of code. |
4 Jan 2001 | Linux 2.4.0 is released. | 3,377,902 lines of code. |
18 Dec 2003 | Linux 2.6.0 is released. | 5,929,913 lines of code. |
External links
- http://web.archive.org/web/19990117070510/www.forbes.com/forbes/98/0810/6203094a.htm
- http://old.lwn.net/2001/features/Timeline/
- http://www.nd.edu/~ljordan/linux/tuxhistory.html
- http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6000
- http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/rhasan/linux